You shouldn't have "light body demeanor" when you are skating to Phantom of the Opera. That is BAD interpretation. Patrick Chan hardly understands the anguish and solitude of the music. Takahashi's performance at 2007 Worlds was FAR ahead of Chan's here at the GPF. That PCS mark of 87 is ridiculous (it's a new record in PCS for a single men's skater, I think). Chan's skating does not have emotional maturity, nor does he have creative content. He has a lot of transitions but those transitions are almost meaningless within the scope of the program. They don't serve the music or an overall choreographic idea or really even create a striking image on their own. They are simply extra movements.

Thank you for your objective rebuttal of my comment. It's so nice that you are completely open to having reasonable discussions about Patrick's skating and performance abilities, especially since you're the expert on what is good and bad interpretation and you know more than the expert judges what his marks should be.

... I got what he meant really was that Plushenko was "old school" regard scoring. But suddenly he became the arrogant kid blasting his seniors. He defended Buttle against Joubert's open criticism. A bit rash, yes, but he was 18 and what he said was true and proven right: you didn't need a quad to win and if all you had were quads, you better bring them in your program.

Videos have since shown Patrick and Joubert having a pretty good relationship. Patrick told Kurt in Torino how happy he was to see Joubert came back and happy again but that was hardly viewed or talked about.

...What puzzles me is how Johnny gets away with so many quarrels with and catty comments about other skaters whereas Patrick's every word gets such negative spins and harsh judgments?

Not only what Johnny gets away with puzzles me SkateFiguring, it's also why Patrick gets all the hassle when guys like Joubert and Plushenko said some pretty negative stuff about other skaters but that was considered ok. It's all right to say that Buttle and other non-quadders didn't deserve their medals but it's not all right to say you disagree with that statement? Something's upside down in this picture. :sheesh:

I don't see any point in criticizing a skater's personality. There are many types of personalities in Men's Figure Skating: Candeloro, Weir, Yagudin, e.g., as well as Buttle, Joubert, Eldridge. Two types: Extrovert and Introvert. I enjoy them for what variation they bring to the ice.

Not so with the Ladies, who, imo, tend to be all the same with few exceptions.

It's worth mentioning that in the short program, Dai had higher PCS in Performance and Interpretation, with Chan taking the rest.

As for Chan's transitions adding nothing to the overall program, I disagree. I think the spread eagle before the 3F-3T combo is a rapturous delight of a moment. It worked better when it was a lead-in for the triple loop, but I still like it.

As for me, I marvelled at the entrance footwork into his second triple lutz, and transitioning from there to the spin following it... that is great stuff, and well-done to the music. I think his programs are choreographed in quite an interesting way, taking into account his considerable abilities and really pushing them... he just needs a little more emotional maturity/experience or whatever you want to call it to really make the moves "sing" in a program.. but cut him some slack (I'm saying this in general, not specifiaclly in reply to the poster I'm quoting) - there is so much difficult stuff there, it's normal that he's going to be concentrating on just getting through it, and not going to come off as mastering it all with pure style this early in his career!

It's worth mentioning that in the short program, Dai had higher PCS in Performance and Interpretation, with Chan taking the rest.

As for Chan's transitions adding nothing to the overall program, I disagree. I think the spread eagle before the 3F-3T combo is a rapturous delight of a moment. It worked better when it was a lead-in for the triple loop, but I still like it.

Originally Posted by amateur

As for me, I marvelled at the entrance footwork into his second triple lutz, and transitioning from there to the spin following it... that is great stuff, and well-done to the music. I think his programs are choreographed in quite an interesting way, taking into account his considerable abilities and really pushing them... he just needs a little more emotional maturity/experience or whatever you want to call it to really make the moves "sing" in a program.. but cut him some slack (I'm saying this in general, not specifically in reply to the poster I'm quoting) - there is so much difficult stuff there, it's normal that he's going to be concentrating on just getting through it, and not going to come off as mastering it all with pure style this early in his career!

Great posts. There is so much more to a skater's program (not just Patrick's) than just jumps and I for one am glad the system rewards innovation and style and difficulty and extraordinary skating talent.